Donald Trump estimated on Friday that if the President of the American central bank, Jerome Powell, wants to lower rates in 2024, it is to help the Democrats win the presidential election in November.
I think he (Jerome Powell, Editor’s note) is going to do something to probably help the Democrats, said the former Republican president on the conservative channel Fox Business. It seems to me that he is trying to lower interest rates in order perhaps to get people to readdeclared the Republican favorite for the November presidential election.
Donald Trump, when he was president, had sharply criticized the Fed for not lowering its rates enough his taste, breaking with the tradition of respect, distance and independence of political power vis-à-vis the monetary institute.
He also assured that, if he himself is re-elected to the White House, he would not renew Jerome Powell at the head of the Fed. However, it was Donald Trump who chose Jerome Powell in 2017 to head the central bank. Joe Biden then offered him a second term.
Trump worried about Artificial Intelligence
The Fed plans to start lowering its main key rate this year after having raised them 11 times to fight against inflation. This has the effect of increasing the cost of credit for households and businesses, and therefore discouraging consumption and investment, in order to curb the surge in prices.
But if rates remain high for too long, the economy risks falling into recession. Furthermore, according to Donald Trump, if the markets are doing well: it is because they think I will be elected.
He also attacked the UAW auto union, which called for voting for Joe Biden, calling the organization a hopeless case. This electric car obligation is insane, insisted the Republican, in reference to the financial aid put in place by the Biden administration to support the transition of the automobile sector.
We have what is called gasoline. (…) And that’s what most people want. (Manufacturers) have tens of thousands of electric vehicles for sale that no one wants to buy, he said.
But for the former White House host, the most dangerous thing ever, because there’s no real solution, is AI, as they call it, it’s so scary. This is a huge problem in terms of security, he insisted.